1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper conveyance apparatus for conveying a sheet of paper and an image recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image recording apparatus such as an inkjet printer has a paper conveyance apparatus that includes a pair of driving rollers and an endless type conveyance belt wound on the driving rollers. While the paper conveyance apparatus conveys a sheet of paper, the inkjet printer can form desired images on a sheet of paper by ejecting ink on the sheet of paper from the inkjet head. In this case, the resolution of the formed images in the paper conveyance direction depends on the conveyance accuracy of the paper conveyance apparatus. Consequently, it is necessary to accurately drive the paper conveyance apparatus at a predetermined speed to form images with high resolution. JP Hei.5-297737 A discloses the following paper conveyance apparatus (e.g., see FIG. 1 of JP Hei.5-297737 A). In the paper conveyance apparatus, a speed-detecting roller (encoder roller) attached to a rotary encoder and an opposed roller (encoder nip roller) biased toward the speed-detecting roller nip the endless type conveyance belt wound on the driving rollers. The paper conveyance apparatus controls driving of the conveyance belt on the basis of a rotation position of the speed-detecting roller, which is detected by the rotary encoder. According to the technology, since the rotary encoder can directly detect the rotation speed of the conveyance belt, it is possible to accurately drive the paper conveyance apparatus at a predetermined speed.